


Blue Crayon Sky

by callingallfreaks



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andreil, Baby Andreil Fighting over Crayons, Betsy Needs a Raise, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 11:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20191912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callingallfreaks/pseuds/callingallfreaks
Summary: Betsy Dobson is an elementary school counselor, and over the years, the feud between two small children has driven her to insanity.





	Blue Crayon Sky

The child seated on one side of the couch was mostly just a tuft of blonde hair sticking out of the top of a baggy black sweatshirt, with eyes that were barely peeking through his bangs enough to glare at the red haired child sitting on the other side of the couch. 

Betsy, in her three years since graduating from college, had expected to be more than an elementary school guidance counselor, but this had been the first job she had been offered. Bills had been racking up, so she’d made the logical decision and accepted it. Now, however, she was wondering if financial security was worth it. 

“Andrew, you know you can’t hit people just because they have what you want,” she said, not unkindly, to the blond child. “That isn’t very nice.”

“He was hogging the blue crayon!” Andrew replied, his little voice shaking with rage. “Aaron needed it, and Neil wouldn’t let him use it.”

“I wasn’t done coloring the sky yet!” Neil, the red haired child, got on his knees and turned to face Andrew on the couch, his tiny fists clenched in anger. “There were other blues too! Aaron just wanted mine to be mean!”

“Take that back!” Andrew drew himself up to his knees to face off against the equally tiny child across from him, and Betsy knew it was time to intervene. 

“If you don’t stop arguing you’ll have to wear the get-along-shirt,” she reminded them gently. “We don’t fight here. It’s the first rule you learned when you started Kindergarten.”

At the reminder of the extra large t-shirt that two fighting Kindergartners would have to wear, forcing them to work together to get things accomplished with one one arm each, the two children both sat back down and turned away from each other. Andrew didn’t last long though, and turned back to Neil with a hateful glare. 

“Next time just share,” he said. 

“Next time ask me nice!” Neil turned to glare back at Andrew. 

The little blond just stuck his tongue out at Neil, and Betsy sighed, already heading to the cabinet where the t-shirt was kept. 

*****  
“Sports are stupid,” Andrew said, glaring at Neil. First grade was much better than Kindergarten. They were allowed to go outside and play with the other kids for recess. It was only the first day, but Neil had been chatting animatedly with Kevin about how excited he was to play kickball. “You’re too little to play anyway, nobody would want you on their team.”

Before they knew it, Neil had thrown himself at Andrew, and a tussle had started in the dirt. Bony elbows and knees made contact with other bony elbows and knees, and it took a few minutes of yelling for Miss Dobson to rush over and separate the two boys. 

“Seriously, on the first day back?” she asked, her breath coming in small pants from having sprinted the length of the playground. “It hasn’t even been a full day and you’re already fighting!” 

“Andrew started it! He’s making fun of me for being little! I’m bigger than you!” Neil’s little fists tried in vain to reach Andrew, but Betsy held them firmly away from each other. 

“Gingers have no soul!!!” 

Neil’s eyes went wide. 

“You take that back you butthead!”

“Enough!!!!” Betsy snapped. “That’s it, I’m taking you both back inside and calling your guardians. This fighting has to end.”

“My uncle Stewart will beat your dad up!” 

“I don’t have a dad! My cousin Nicky will beat your dumb uncle up!” Andrew said angrily as he fought Betsy tooth and nail to get to Neil to keep their brawl alive.

‘I need a raise,’ Betsy thought tiredly. 

*****  
Surely second grade was going to be different. Betsy watched as Andrew Minyard jumped off the school bus, his twin following closely. They were racing each other to the doors, their matching backpacks bouncing on their tiny frames. Standing close to the door with Kevin Day was Neil Josten, who had his back to the twins and was using both his hands to communicate excitedly with Kevin. He never saw it coming when Andrew paused in his race with Aaron and shoved Neil from behind, sending the other boy barreling into Kevin. Betsy pressed her fingers against her eyeballs and sighed. 

*****  
Third grade was the year for change. Third graders were starting to be a little bit more mature. The fights were less frequent between third graders than they were between the younger kids, and as she took her spot to watch over the children having lunch, a small child with red hair caught her eye. He was covered in spaghetti, and in front of him, Andrew Minyard was holding a now empty plate with the residue of red spaghetti sauce on it, a smile on his face that showed he was completely pleased with himself. 

Fourth grade was surely going to be different. No fighting between Neil and Andrew. No calls home ending in a crying 21 year old Nicky Hemmick who was overwhelmed with the raising of two children after the sudden death of their mother, and begged Betsy to not call CPS, as if that were even an option. No more meetings with Stuart Hatfield, who insisted the whole time that Neil was a smark, kind, child, and this Minyard boy was a tyrant who needed to be incarcerated. 

“Ms. Dobson, two students were fighting in their classroom and they’re waiting in the office for you. I think they might start fighting again, you might want to come quick.”

*****  
Fuck it. If fifth grade wasn’t the end, at least next year they’d be in middle school and therefore no longer Betsy’s problem.

*****  
“Thank you for coming Ms. Dobson, we are so glad you agreed to transfer to the middle school this year. There is nobody else that comes as highly recommended as you do.” 

Betsy was all smiles until she saw a familiar blond child walking down the hall through the glass wall. Behind him was a redhead that looked up to no good.

*****  
Seventh grade was hell. Andrew was meaner than ever to Neil, who, like most redheads Betsy had met, had an incredibly short fuse. It was insane, because Andrew was normally a quiet, shy student who would listen in class, do his homework, and not make a scene.

Add Neil Josten to the classroom, though, and it was like Andrew was possessed by a demon that wanted nothing more than to make Neil’s life a living hell. 

For all he got, though, Neil gave just as much. Betsy had seen Neil pour milk over Andrew’s head, dump pudding in his backpack, stick uneaten fishsticks in his desk, and tie his shoelaces together. And all of that just in the last month!

The hatred that went back all the way to Kindergarten and one fateful blue crayon had fueled a hostility so deep that Betsy wasn’t sure if there was a solution. The principal, naturally, hadn’t taken her concerns seriously. She’d suggested they be purposely scheduled to not have any classes together, but instead they ended up sharing four of their seven. They ended up on Betsy’s couch at least once a week, and it never did anything to deter them. 

The worst part was that Neil had actually become really good friends with Aaron, so while they were still entangled in this hateful web, the ended up fighting more often than ever, since they were part of the same friend group. They often came to school with bruises and scrapes from fights they’d had off campus just being around their friends.   
*****  
Betsy didn’t know what to do. Eighth grade proceeded just like all the others, and as if she was being pranked by her own evil entity, she ended up following the group to high school, so she could witness the continuation of this epic war.

Ninth grade was hell. They pushed each other in the halls, fought in the bathrooms, and sabotaged each other in class.

Tenth grade was the year the police got involved. Their fighting got super out of control and they broke a window. They had to go to court and the result was two weekends each spent in juvie and a strict warning to not let it happen again. Fat chance of that, though. 

When the school year ended, Betsy was relieved. A few months of not having to be constantly on edge, just waiting for the next battle in the neverending war was just what she needed. She was moving house, having been awarded a sizeable scholarship to go back to school and get her advanced degree in psychology. Her scholarship included a housing allowance that made it easier for her to afford a better place. 

The second day of summer vacation, though, she caught sight of a red haired boy riding his bike into the garage across the street from hers and then turn and wave at a blond boy who was just a few houses away, and behind him was an identical boy glaring like a black cloud of doom at the redhead. She dropped her head onto her table with a loud thud.

*****  
Eleventh grade. Nearly graduation. It was almost over. 

But for some reason, things were different this year. Nearly a month into the school year, and so far, Neil and Andrew had not been sent to her office for counselling. It was suspicious. Highly suspicious. 

She tried not to make it too obvious, but she started watching them. She was anticipating a knock down drag out fight that would put all others to shame, just to make up for how long it took.

Something was surely going to happen soon. This kind of buildup could not bode well.

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will switch from Betsy to Andrew and Neil!


End file.
